With the success of HBO’s Game Of Thrones, more and more networks are attempting to capitalize on the fantasy, historical drama time period. Kurt Sutter’s The Bastard Executioner is one such show. Now, the BBC is bringing its A game and is socking £10m into the network’s upcoming series, The Last Kingdom. The Last Kingdom TV show is an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s series of historical novels, The Saxon Stories.

The Last Kingdom will do things a little different, as it’ll attempt to mesh together fictional characters and historical events in retelling the tale of England’s inception as a unitary state. The Last Kingdom TV series is set to take place in 872 in the Kingdom of Wessex, while other England kingdoms succumb to Viking invasions. The main protagonist of the show is Uhtred (Alexander Dreymond), who is taken captive by Vikings, after his father, Lord Uthred (Matthew Macfadyen) is killed.

Uhtred and Alfred The Great (David Dawson, Ripper Street) will work together, in order to unite the Kingdoms of England. Uhtred’s loved Brida (Emily Cox) will also play a major role in the tale, as a feminist fighter. King Edmund (Jason Flemyng, The Missing) and King Aethelred (Alec Newman) will also play vital roles. The series will also feature Earl Ragnar (Peter Gantzler) and Ragnar (Tobias Santelmann), which definitely gives the show a Vikings feeling.

Thus far, the series is sceduled for 8 60-minute episodes. They’ll begin airing on October 10, 2015. The series will air on BBC Two and BBC America, so fans of the series can watch almost simultaneously.

The Last Kingdom BBC Trailer was just recently released. It looks great and will be embedded below for your convenience.

 

BBC The Last Kingdom Trailer

 

So, will you be watching? As a fan of Matthew Macfadyen, Jason Flemyng and David Dawson, I’ll definitely check it out. Plus, the trailer looks pretty dang good. It looks like a mixture of Vikings and GOT. Maybe it can reclaim some of the luster lost by both in the more recent series? What do you think? Be sure to let me know!